


warning signs of satanic behaviour

by wintercourse



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, Post-Sburb
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-03-25 13:18:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3811969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercourse/pseuds/wintercourse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>rose and jade saw a universe all at once. rose and jade dropped out of high school. rose and jade breathe in air that doesn't smell like teen angst - they inhale smoke and dust and scented candles and spirits and each other, sometimes, instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> reminder that jade grew up practically alone and probably has to try really hard to recognise expressions and social cues and generally read people :/

Sometimes Jade looks at her like algebra.

Rose strives for an air of mystery, and constantly denies the effort. After all, reading people is an asset - being read in return is a weakness, makes her feel like a battered library book. But sometimes, when she is too deep in the mystery wrapped in an enigma barbed with awful, stinging sarcasm, Jade will give her That Look. And she swears she feels dust tickling her nose, feels like she's bent over her old school desk (not like that), feels like she's somebody's _homework_. Rose knows that algebra may look tricky, but Jade's always relished the challenge.

-

"Come on Rose, we're basically old ladies already! Sophisticated and gracefully ageing, like fine wine or whatever! Toss me the Lucky Strikes!"

Rose smokes on occasion, and Jade tries to guess why. She's narrowed it down to a multiple choice problem: a) it clears her head, b) its a link to her mother, exemplery of the classic Lalonde deathwish, or c) she wants to feel like a cool femme fatale. It's still up in the air, but Jade supposes c is the heavenly option.

Jade also smokes on occasion, but only those which find her stumbling over Rose, hunkered low against the brick wall and the cold, mimicking a furnace.

She snorts (Jade could say delicately, but she'd be lying), and mumbles, "Aren't you afraid of cancer? Heart disease?"

Jade snorts even more earnestly (and even further from delicate), the warning reminding her only of a boy who harrassed her for years and then had the nerve to make her care.

"I'll live. I'm really good at that you know, I'm basically an expert!"

"Those sorts of throwaway lines always ring a bit too true coming from you."

"Is that a reference to my innate sincerity or my super rad survival skills? Either way, I'm asking you very _sincerely_ to hand me the pack Rose." She puts out a hand, smile a little bit sweet and a little bit vicious.

Rose fishes out a single cigarette, and holds it out for Jade to clamp between her teeth. She crosses her eyes and hisses through her clenched jaw, "So what's up with you? We haven't hung out in a week or so?"

"Almost makes you miss the crushing concrete confines of our dearest educational institution, doesn't it? Daily contact with those I regard most fondly, if you can ignore those we mutually loathed?"

"Nice alliteration. And, well, yeah! I know you didn't take so kindly to Puberty II: Revenge of the Hormones, but I actually really liked being with other kids this time around! And catching you smoking behind the art building felt very exciting, like teen rebellion kinda. Now it's just a little sad."

She tips her eyebrows and rolls her lips in slightly, passing off the comment with a joking _ain't that a shame_ , conveyed through an aborted wince. They've played it like this before, and Jade knows that _Rose_ knows that she isn't really joking. Jade also knows that Rose won't ditch the conversation over veiled concern, not like how she balks at anything remotely straightforward.

"Well, if that's the case I'd like to apologize. For being a boring clichéd loner now, and for apparently corrupting your innocence then."

"My virgin lungs couldn't take it Rose! I was so young, so pure! And now look at me, a highschool dropout, joining a punk band, and practically smoking two packs a day!"

Even through her mock indignation, she squints at Rose's expression - two dimensional, she thinks. She looks amused, because she is amused, and for once Jade believes that's all there is to it. Rose meets her eye and sighs - Jade looks down and pipes up before she can fit in another witty retort.

"I really do miss that sort of thing though. I mean, we weren't exactly the purest peeps on the playground -"

"Nice alliteration. Also, a shocking understatement." Jade rolls her eyes in agreement (thinking with a sort of ruthless satisfaction that they've _surely_ experienced the condensed suffering of any classmate's whole life in any one night's dreams), and continues.

"So yeah, this isn't any sort of Rose-tinted nostalgia," and here she waggles her eyebrows so Rose won't miss the attempted witticism, "But I just think things were pretty simple for a while. I had you guys and Bec, we had a world of people to meet... you even made some other friends! It was nice, and I sort of want it to feel like old times again, that's all."

Jade has said her fill, and Rose takes a moment to compose her response. Jade steels herself to be led down the garden path of hypotheticals and guised emotions - sometimes it feels like a conversation with Rose can't go from Point A to B without veering through the wasteland of The Obfuscating Metaphor. The ride can be an awful lot of fun though.

"We'll hold a seance. Find ghosts. Your dead dog, and my social life - what do you say?"

-

Jade flops onto her (threadbare creaking strange-smelling) couch, punch drunk and not particularly graceful. John is tapping at his laptop like the keys have personally wronged him, and she takes a moment to think that walking through her own door to find someone already inside is becoming a far too common occurrence.

"People are hard John."

"You are so lucky Dave isn't here to hear that."

She frowns at his implied innuendo (referencing it is just as lame as making it, honestly), and twists around onto her stomach, propping her chin on his thigh.

"Seriously though, talking to people is hard sometimes. But I manage, don't I! I hang out with other people! Like not a lot, but still. I don't sound weird or uncomfortable talking to cashiers and stuff do I?"

John furrows his brows, probably slightly worried that she's heading into the feelings zone. Jade knows that in itself isn't the issue, but that it often leads to the please-give-me-advice zone - he likes to have some warning to make sure he's got something useful to say. Which is stupid, really, because he's _always_ understood the three of them, sometimes better than they did.

Jade groans and gives him a pass - this time. "It's fine, I don't know. Do you still have that book on hauntings? That had a chapter about seances right?"

"Um, yeah I think so! I have a final tomorrow so I can't skip to hang out again, but I'll bring it after school?"

He squints down at her as she mumbles a thank you. "Is it worth asking why?"

"Nope!"

"Hm. Well. I know this was a subject change or two ago, but about, uh, that thing you said? There's nothing wrong with you, you know? You're really trying," He pauses, chews his lip, (like a record skip).

"But not everyone is going to want to try so hard, and really, I don't think there's anything wrong with them either. Like you said, it's hard."

Jade looks up and tries to parse through his fast-changing expressions. She does spot uncertainty, but not a hint of cluelessness - he knows what she meant, just like always, and she envies him that (just like always).

"Yeah, I guess it is. Thanks John."

"No problem!"

"Now get the fuck out of here and go study."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is also really short. i guess thats the standard here? i'm mostly winging this and i'm no good at drawing scenes out, so we'll see if they get any longer lmao

"Jade, do you ever feel alone in a crowded room?"

She rolls her eyes at his sudden melodrama. If Dave ever wants to communicate a grain of truth, he likes to wrap it in at least five cliches first. So even if he sounds like an after school special, Jade closes her eyes and tries to think about it.

She thinks about spending years alone (twice), having conversations with the clouds, the dogs, the dead. She thinks about the universe dropping her in the lap of another girl, like it had a reason, and realising the only thing they had in common was knowing how it felt to be alone. She thinks about that girl who could have sought out company in an endless void, who instead spent all her time looking for herself.

Jade remembers loneliness - the problem is, she doesn't know if she remembers it from years ago or this morning.

She nods, almost to herself, and answers, "Yeah, I think I do. What about you, Mr Socialite? Does no one understand you? Do you just not fit in with all those oppressive high school cliques?"

He rolls his head and smirks, and she thinks he looks like an athlete - stretching and jogging on the spot, prepping for the big race, getting in the zone. It's going to be less of a feat of athleticism, though, and more of a rambling metaphor.

They're sitting in her tiny greenhouse, shooting the shit. It was hard enough getting him to sit his fancy-ass down on the dirt covered floor (she's pretty sure he's afraid of bugs, and considering all the dead ones in his room, that's basically the most hilarious thing ever), so she's going to be nice and let him spit out word vomit to his heart's content.

"Bingo Harley, you hit the lonely misfit teen girl on the head. Just as she was sitting in the middle of the caf, silently bemoaning her empty social life (shit's more barren than an old crone I kid you not) and gazing longingly at the total hunk across the room, you come swinging in with your hammer of truth, just knock her upside the cranium, straight out K.O."

"Gasp!"

She actually says it aloud, and he seems to approve of the vocalization, so she continues, "You've gotta give me a happy ending here Dave, I don't think I can handle the well-crafted tragedy of the story you just spun!"

He smiles softly, picking vacantly at the edge of a floorboard with a rusty trowel. They grew out of this sort of thing a while ago, but a little stupidity can't hurt.

"Well you're in luck, cause Mr. Dreamboat is there when she wakes up, never mind that he looks at least twenty five, I mean that's Dawson casting for ya. The point is, I am the teen girl misfit, it's me, and you just saved me from an eternity of angst. Reblog to save a life."

Jade giggles and snorts and shuffles over into Dave's patch of sunlight (he claimed it immediately, like a cat, which was also the most hilarious thing ever).

"Glad I could help, loser!" She sticks her tongue out betwen her teeth and makes an L on her forehead. He pulls her hair, and she thinks of when she used to read children's books and wonder about boys chasing girls on the playground - she wonders if that gesture still means what it used to.

He looks pensive for a moment - a year ago his features wouldn't have budged, but he doesn't seem to care what his face does anymore, and she's so glad. "You know you don't have to pretend I'm funny anymore, right Harls? Shit's so 2009."

"I'm not _Rose_ , Dave. I'm not gonna play along with your bullshit and still pretend it's not the slightest bit funny. Besides, 2009 me thought you were hilarious. Probably not in the way you were aiming for, but still."

He makes a self satisfied _hmmph_ noise, and she can hear the claims that _2009 me was reeling in an awful lot of bitches, not your fault you got swept up_ in his half-smirk, even if he doesn't vocalize it.

(If they were any younger he would have vocalized it. She wonders, not for the first time, if maturity is all it's cracked up to be.)

"So, how _is_ school going? Met any hunky dreamboats outside of your weird teen movie fantasies?" She asks casually, hoping he won't end up on the defensive.

He just sighs. "It's alright. Me and Johnny-boy are handling ourselves pretty well. We do miss you guys, if that's what you wanted to hear, but we're adjusting. Last week teach grabbed my shoulder and I didn't even pull a sword on him," he says, with a wry smile warping one side of his face. "Dreamboats are at a minimum though, unless you count the bucktoothed wonder. He brings pretty much every textbook he owns to every class we have. I'm fucking swooning."

Jade grins, and tries not to regret anything. "I'm so proud of you Dave, functioning like a normal human! Um. So," and he tenses up, ever so slightly, and she notices, "Is, I mean, are they... still there?"

He opens his mouth, closes it, and she imagines him stalling. _Is who still there, you've gotta stop being so vague Harls, that non-specific shit ain't gonna fly now we know more than three people_. But he doesn't, and he just looks sort of, like, weary.

"Yeah. Yeah, they are. In our calc class. No one really, talks about it though."

Jade just deflates a bit. The sun is still streaming in the window through the filter of dust and grime, and she thinks viciously that she really needs to clean it, how did she let it get that gross, all this free time and she still fucks up something so straightfoward, _God_.

He sighs again at her distress (being more expressive has just made him into a giant windbag really), and lolls his head on her shoulder. "How is Rose then? Is my dearest pseudo-sibling flourishing in her newfound independence?"

She pushes him off and frowns, speaking slowly, "You mean, you haven't been talking to her?"

His wince answers for him, but he still confirms, "Yeah. Not really. I was trying, and I figured she was busy sorting her shit out. Or you know, wallowing in depression. Which is kinda why I'm asking you."

She groans loudly and falls onto her back. Her head throbs where it hits the wooden floor, but she doesn't have time to be in pain. She's trying to be dramatic!

"Uh. Is that meant to be an answer, or what."

Jade glares up at him, squinting in the light. "She wants to summon ghosts. I have no idea why, but I'm guessing she wants to resurrect either her will to live or her ex-girlfriend. Which might be the same thing."

"Oh. Well then." He lies down a bit more gingerly next to her.

"Tell her good luck, I guess."

-

Jade takes the rest of the day for herself. She reads, and tinkers, and keeps her mind as far as possible from all the things she can't fix. She can fix her machines, finetuning and fiddling until they're good enough. She can fix the greenhouse, finally cleaning the windows and repotting until her fingernails ache and her skin is suffocating under sweat and soil. She can fix the mix she and Dave have been volleying, tightening the bass notes. She fancies she can fix herself, practising smiling in the mirror, practising being alone again, even for small stretches of time.

John comes by eventually, dropping off the book. He can't stay long, but he smiles and jokes and accidentally slams the door behind him, just like always. It's a strange habit, and it makes every goodbye seem very final. It's very fitting for the boy Jade never thought she would see again, way back when.

He leaves the book and she stares at the cover in all its tacky, sensationalist glory. She's finished the relevant chapter before he's been gone fifteen minutes.

-

She googles seances and nuclear fission, and wants to take Bec for a walk before remembering she can't. She wants to do homework, and she wants to understand her friends without having to try so hard. She wants to save the world, before remembering she can't.

When she thinks about it, she really just wants to take a nap. But her dreams aren't quite as comforting as they used to be, and she doesn't have another body to keep working while she sleeps. Jade doesn't like being idle, she doesn't like being useless, and she doesn't like waking up (and immediately wondering where she passed out this time, was she doing something important, why would you fall asleep in a fucking _tree_ why are you so _stupid_ ).

Figuring out if her impromptu naps are because of her, or because of some space case girl messing with her head, has really done a number on her schedule.

-

She tries drawing, and when all that comes through is confusing overlaid objects, sorted into place for a ritual she doesn't even understand, she gives up. She drew a bit, a really long time ago, but never ventured beyond scribbled cephalopods. As soon as she did, it was hard and frustrating and she just wasn't any good. She folds up the paper (she tries to get past seven folds, every time, and hasn't managed yet), and shoves it in a drawer.

-

In the end, her to-do list doesn't hold out as long as she'd like it to, and soon she's lying down, staring at the glowing galaxy tacked to her bedroom ceiling. She idly considers that her life doesn't mean anything at all anymore.

(Then she considers that that isn't a very nice thought to have at four fifteen on a Friday afternoon.

But the point still stands.)

She ends up asleep anyway, curtain drawn against the still shining sun, dreaming about light, and Dave's calculus class. Her phone is next to her head, set loud enough to wake her if anyone texts or calls. She spends the next sixteen hours out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'no one really talks about it though' aka: noodle incident  
> reminder that im not really sure what im doing here, so comments are definitely welcome (esp if i mess up characterization tbh)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should probably mention that the title came from this: http://fuckyeah1990s.tumblr.com/post/118139119984/warning-signs-of-satanic-behavior-training-video  
> it was probably more relevant to the initial concept than the bigger picture fic but /shrug

Jade wakes up on a Wednesday morning to a low rumble of thunder. Water runs down her window, works with the dense vegetation clinging to the frame to block most of the light. The result is strange, a slight green tinge to her already liberally green room, with individual droplets casting great layered shadows on the opposite wall. She feels sluggish, like usual, but this morning she tries to pin it on the eerie quality of the light - it looks like she's underwater, and after a night of fitful sleep a sheet has wrapped around her ankle like seaweed. So she gets up lazily to match, more like wading than walking. Wednesday mornings used to be a rush for her, but now she can afford the whimsy.

Her to do list today is practically non existent, so by the time she's done crawling through it, she's buzzing with pent up energy. Get up, make breakfast (don't feed Bec). Brush teeth, get dressed (don't go to school). The rain is heavy, so she can't tend to the plants outside, and she checked the greenhouse yesterday. She walks through the living room, and for a moment she has the urge to check on Grandpa, help polish his gun (dust his hat set his face check his stitches); but that's not really an option anymore. She catches a glimpse of her face in the mirror above the mantle and has the urge to check on herself, the her who stood in the attic (brush her hair set her face check her stitches); that isn't an option anymore either, and she shudders to think that is once was.

By noon she's antsy, and by one she's standing in Rose's doorway, dripping water onto her dusty hall carpet. Rose's eyes widen for a moment. "If I knew you were coming, I might have cleaned up a bit."

Under normal circumstances, Jade would have phoned ahead, but this wasn't exactly a well thought out visit.

"If I knew I was coming, I might have brought an umbrella."

-

She's sitting in boxers, a still wet t shirt, and a thankfully dry blanket when Rose comes back in with drinks. She extracts her hands from the woollen cocoon and tries not to spill the coffee Rose hands her. Jade sends a fervent prayer to God, Bec, some aliens, whoever's responsible for aligning the universe and putting a warm mug in her hands right now - she's been close to real frostbite before, and feels halfway there again.

They're quiet for a moment, but it's comfortable. It always is, with Rose, even when she does that weird analytical staring thing (Jade figures it's supposed to be intimidating, but it's not like she's hiding anything). Jade fixes her with a look over the rim of her cup. "Rose."

Rose is drinking from her own, so her curious "Hmm?" echoes and vibrates through the porcelain.

"Exactly how Irish is that coffee?"

Rose splutters a little, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand and hiding a grin. Jade shields her own smile behind her mug. It has '#1 AUSPISTICE' scrawled in sharpie on the side.

"That is," and Jade can see her trying to hold back laughter, " _quite_ an accusation!"

"Come on Rose! On a scale of one to, idk, leprechauns."

"First, you are the only person who can pull of spelling 'idk' aloud, I don't understand it. Second, if the best you can come up with is leprechauns, I don't think you deserve an answer." She says it airily, and apparently changes her mind when Jade pouts. "Hm. About as Irish as St Patrick's Day in Austin."

She squints and pinches the air between two fingers, like saying  _just a little bit_ , and Jade flops onto her side with a snort. She's still holding her cup upright, but a tiny splash of hot coffee lands on her exposed lap. It only stings a little. "Dave would be offended. How dare you imply his people can't drink with the best of them!"

"Trust me Jade, Dave knows his, _people_ , can hold their liquor. It might hit a bit close to home though."

Jade frowns as best she can with her face pressed into the corduroy couch. Rose gets the message, and rolls her eyes. "Fine, yes, tact is a thing I can handle Jade. Obligatory subject change: why on earth are you here?"

Jade raises both her eyebrows, and Rose looks embarrassed for a second. "No, I mean, I definitely appreciate the company. How about a revision. Why on earth did you walk here in the rain without even putting on a proper jacket? What's next, are you going to come after me in an airport? Or have you skipped ahead to planning the honeymoon?"

Rose tends to poke more fun when she's flustered. It's kind of endearing, and kind of aggravating.

"I just wanted to hang out with you. Is that so much to ask, Rose, really?"

"Of course it isn't. Nursing you back to health after your almost inevitable bout of hypothermia, however, is quite the tall order."

Jade sighs as dramatically as she can with her face in the cushion and her arm in the air, still trying not to spill. "It's true. I fear I am not long for this world, and I don't even have a pair of arms to hold me through my final hours. Oh, woe is me! Woe!"

Rose sighs, and stands. "You're ridiculous."

"But you're still coming over here! So being ridiculous works!" Jade is grinning, and Rose carefully takes her mug and puts it on the coffee table before settling down next to her.

"This isn't even helping yet Rose. I need real legit cuddles if I'm gonna absorb your body warmth and stave off my icy fate." Rose shoves her bare feet in her lap in response, and Jade yelps from the sudden cold. They're both laughing enough they don't hear the first few rings of Jade's phone, but Rose's finally tuned (and slightly snobby) ears quickly pick up on the faint strains of NSYNC being muffled by the carpet.

She lunges for it before Jade can, still smiling and muttering something like "How did you even carry this here, this model isn't exactly waterproof," before answering. "Personal assistant to Jade Harley, how may I help you?"

Rose's eyebrows climb as the person on the other end responds. She covers the speaker with her hand, and leans in (very very close, enough that Jade can see the cracked skin of her lower lip and the grit still in her eyes from a late morning). Jade can still hear the incoherent mumbles from the caller as Rose stage whispers, "How would you like to stage a jailbreak?"

-

Walking right onto school grounds without being stopped is apparently very easy when you look like a student. The woman in lower school admin waves them past - she would remember them, but wouldn't have heard about their departure. Ditto for the maintenance worker Jade used to chat to about the building's generator set up, and the seventh grade teacher who once read dozens of Rose's story drafts. It makes Jade a little bit happy, and a not so little bit uncomfortable, how easily they fit back in here.

Dave had called at the start of lunch - he'd been hoping to skip the last two periods, like usual on a Wednesday ("It's Hump Day for a reason Harls, I don't think I'd survive an extra hour and a half a week in this joint"), but a semester's worth of accumulated absences had caught up to him. He was stuck with a lunch hour detention, and John was sitting his last exam and couldn't ditch with him. He phoned asking for a good excuse and a "ride out of here, anything from Driving Miss Daisy to Thelma and Louise as long as you get me out I swear to God -" . They didn't exactly have an excuse, so Jade suggests a reconnaissance mission before they try to break him out. 

The halls are busy as they head towards the classroom Dave is stuck in - it's still pouring outside, so the students are eating indoors. Jade sees a few of her former classmates, and worries at first that she may draw their attention. She realises soon though, that all eyes are on Rose. Jade hears mutters, and sees curiosity, confusion, and occasional hint of scorn in the eyes of the teenagers walking past.

She presses closer to Rose and whispers in her ear, "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea?"

"A friend in need Jade. I fear the system will eat Dave alive if we don't come to his rescue." Her tone is flippant, and the corner of her lips lifts, but Jade can see how Rose's mouth is set.

They stop outside the detention room, in a much less crowded hallway. Jade avoids the eyes of the small group sat on the ground a few doors down, but her heart drops when she notices one of them in particular.

He's got a heavy brow, a nasty scowl, and the worst posture she's ever seen. She thinks he was in her chemistry class - he broke some beakers once, when she bumped into him. She wouldn't remember, except for how loudly he swore at her before bending to clean them. He cut his hand on the glass, just a shallow scratch, and the next time she saw him it was covered by the cuff of his baggy jumper. He's wearing one just like it now.

She turns away before she can overthink it.

Rose is already peering into the room through the crack between the door and frame - she grabs Jade and steers her down the hall (away from the boy), talking strategy. She says that Jade can distract the supervisor and draw them into the hall, while Rose waits outside the (mercifully low) window and beckons Dave to the car, "like a true guardian angel. He'll hate it."

"I'm pretty sure I saw ten different cartoons with an espisode exactly like this."

Rose sighs. "Have I taught you nothing? Simplicity is everything. Always stick with the classics."

-

After a creating a reasonably awkward 'distraction' (slamming locker doors, tripping over the group of boys and just making as much noise as possible without completely humiliating herself), Jade bolts out of the building. Running around to the side, she meets up with Rose and a slightly disheveled, but mostly grateful looking Dave, who turns to offer a salute to the students still inside. A skinny girl in ripped up jeans stands and salutes back, mouthing something to Dave with a wicked grin. He smiles slightly and gives her a thumbs up.

The rain is finally letting up as they set off towards Rose's car. Dave grins. "Thanks for saving my bacon kids, much obliged."

"Not that I don't appreciate a chance to flex my clearly well developed strategizing muscles, but may I ask what made this mission so urgent?"

Some opportunistic students start to pour out of the school buildings to absorb the sun while they can. Dave shrugs. "You know me. Don't vibe so well with little rooms and constant supervision."

Jade bumps his shoulder. "Fair enough."

They're almost at the gate when Jade turns her head back towards the school building. A small group of girls is walking very close to them - they look about the same age as them, and Jade definitely recognizes a few from her classes. It only takes a split second for her to notice one of the girls has stopped walking.

She has a large, straight nose, and dark eyes. Her hair is a bit longer than Jade remembers, curling past her ears, and she wears her clearly tailored skirt well, standing tall amidst her friends. She's stock still and staring with wide eyes at Rose's retreating back.

"Jade? What are you looking at?" Rose starts to turn before Jade grabs her sleeve and pulls her the last few steps to the car, eyes fixed on the ground in front of her.

"It's nothing. Don't worry."

Rose looks like she wants to push the issue, but Jade shakes her head and smiles, so she drops it. They pile in the car and start driving. Jade meets the girl's eye through the glass, and neither looks away until they're out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot stuff! kinda!! wow!!! my characterization continues its descent into 'who on earth are these people have u even read the comic?' territory. basically feedback would be much appreciated at this point!! also probably i'll write a longer chapter soon. maybe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got so stuck on this one you wouldnt believe! i'm almost on holidays so the other chapters should be out quicker

Arriving home to find Rose already there isn't that uncommon. Finding Rose and Dave, sitting on her couch with piles of books and loose papers around them, is.

"Ok, so. Why are you guys here."

Rose purses her lips and counts off on her fingers; "Well, John is currently defouling your bathroom,"

"He's on the John, l-m-a-o."

"Yes Dave."

John emerges, grinning, striding into the too-small room. "Did I hear defouling? Cause I swear everything is just as foul as when I got here!"

"Your word play astounds me boys. As I was saying, John is here because the internet is out at his house. I'm here to provide the dazzling conversation and also liberate you of all those groceries you've just brought in. Dave is - actually, I've been sitting with Dave for the better part of an hour, and I have no idea why he's here."

"To provide the dazzling conversation."

"Right. Dave is here because he's an ass." Rose punctuates her list with a sweet smile at Jade, who is still wondering why her living room is full of teenagers and a mess of paper. She eyes the latter, and John pipes up. "We were studying. I hope you don't mind! I really needed to do some research, and your wifi is suped up like crazy."

"That's fine! I don't mind at all. Do you guys want like, snacks or something? I'm technically the host here, even if I didn't invite anyone over. I intend to be a good one!" Jade nods earnestly, and Rose scoffs.

"Excellent, perhaps?"

John wears a look of confusion for a moment before it morphs into discomfort. Dave wears sneakers, scuffed to all hell, and a tight smile. Jade is just so damn tired.

"Yeah, excellent." Her voice is soft. "I'll guess I'll get the popcorn."

-

A peal of John's laughter rings through the cracked doorway, soaring high and disjointed over the steady crackle from the stove.

 "Rose must be killing it with the one liners out there, huh?"

Jade doesn't take her eyes off the pot. "Yeah, must be."

"She's really been snarkin' it up lately. I mean, no more than usual I guess? It's hard to tell, especially considering I've drawn back on it quite a bit myself."

The rust on the side of the metal makes little gold-brown pictures, and the kernels hurl themselves againt the paper cover.

"You sure have Dave."

He sighs some more, and she wonders if someday he'll run out of air, just deflate like a balloon. "Work with me here Jade. Is she okay? She's been off all day, like, kinda ruthlessly off."

One of the rust patches makes a golden ring. Jade huffs and turns to face Dave.

"Look, I don't know. Actually, I don't think she's even acting weird! She's just the same as ever right? Yay for consistency!"

"Don't pull this shit Harley, for real. I just, I feel like we should be doing something."

She rolls her eyes and reaches across his body to dial back the stove, before settling her elbows back against the counter. "Okay, yeah, probably. But why are you asking me? Why would I know what we 'should be doing'?"

He squints at her, apparently genuine confusion colouring his features. "You're kidding right?" She frowns at him in surprise while he continues. "Come on Jade, you just, you get her. Always have, always will."

She isn't sure she believes him, and she knows for certain it's not as innate as he makes it sound.

"Aw come on, stop making that colon-forward-slash face, my heart is cracking at the mere sight of it. We can probably stop talking about feelings right now and get back to the popcorn if that's better."

She smiles a little at his eyebrows, so high they might leap off his face.

"Great idea, yes." She turns back to the stove before remembering something. "Wait, no! More feelings questions! Specifically, who was that girl in detention? You know, with all the smiling and the saluting and the cute nose?" She adds a wink and a nudge for good measure, and he rubs at his arm ruefully before replying.

"Oh Jade Harley, master of the subject change!"

"Oh Dave Strider, master of the question dodge!"

He offers one more sigh for the road. "I've been playing straight chicken with gay girls Harls."

She flicks an eyebrow. "And?"

"I'm getting my ass kicked."

-

Jade has enough popcorn in her hair that she thinks making it might not have been a great idea. At least everyone is in the same boat, the impromptu and (for her and Rose at least) largely irrelevant study session quickly devolving into the Kernel Catching Olympics, copyright John Egbert 2014. Rose lands a well aimed toss just under John's gleaming gap teeth, and laughs (freely, for once, and borderline hysterical).

The little white pieces poke out from her almost grey hair, nestled amongst her dark roots like the strangest tiara. A halo on a trashy cinema floor angel. Her dark skin glows slightly blue in the glow from her laptop, and Jade is already embarrassed before she finishes thinking how beautiful it all is.

Rose looks down and catches her eye mid snort, and tosses her head slightly. Jade catches her drift, and crawls up from her place on the floor ("A better angle for aiming! I'm doing you all a favour here"). She sidles in next to Rose, tucking her legs under her and deciding she can deal with pins and needles later.

She leans against Rose's side, still stick straight despite how settled the others are. She turns her face and murmurs into Rose's shoulder, eyes forward. "Hey, do you wanna hang out tomorrow? I can bring you to rehearsal if you want."

"Yeah. Yes, that'd be lovely." She hazards a glance up and catches the tail end of Rose's smile.

"Cool." She grins into Rose's arm and hopes she can feel it.

When she gets up later, her legs are numb and unsteady, like her metaphorical jelly knees turned literal. It's a funny feeling.

-

"The sun is shining, it's a beautiful day - let's haul ass!"

Rose's face is one fifth golden and four fifths shade. The stripe of illuminated skin shifts and wobbles as Jade holds the curtains ajar, and Rose squints one eye open. She meets Jade's eye, and the visible parts of her face appear to be scowling.

"What are you doing?" Her voice comes out creaky as old floorboards. Jade is well aware Rose isn't a morning person, and only enjoys this a little bit.

"You said you would come to rehearsal!"

Rose just burrows deeper into her sheets. "Does rehearsal normally take place at six in the morning?"

"It's almost noon." Rose just groans in reply, and Jade pictures a rusty saw at her vocal cords. Maybe she should have brought a glass of milk or something.

"Come on sleepyhead, I said I would haul ass and I'm not afraid to follow through!" Jade pulls at Rose's uncovered ankle threateningly.

"Ugh, fine. Gimme a second." Rose props herself up on her elbows, and the blankets start to slide off her apparently bare back. The stripe of light ghosts over her shoulder blades, and Jade starts muttering about making 'breakfast' before beating a hasty retreat.

In the kitchen, she takes a moment to remember that cooking breakfast for someone doesn't always mean irradiating a slab of meat and tossing it out her window. She tries to make it with some finesse this time instead, but quickly realises that her fine dining knowledge does not extend very far at all. Jade does know that breakfast is traditionally eaten in the morning, though - she can probably flout convention as much as she wants right now.

She's started on some french toast by the time Rose pads out of her room. She's not exactly graceful, and the crashing sounds as she clears a path through the cluttered hallway like an elephant through brush quickly tell Jade that she's up. Jade can't help but smile when she actually shuffles into view, rubbing her eye with a quilt still wrapped around her shoulders.

"How's it shaking, bacon?"

Rose screws up her nose at the plate of bacon Jade offers. "That was awful."

"Haha, it kinda was. Seriously though, how are you?"

"Ignoring my rude awakening, I'm quite well, thank you." Her voice is still sleepy, and her eyes are still squinted, but she seems relatively more composed as she picks apart the meat in front of her. Jade serves up the toast and she digs in a bit more earnestly.

"That's good! You still wanna come right? I mean it might get kind of boring and if you want to skip it that's totally fine!" Jade doesn't look at Rose as she says it, and tries to sound nonchalant. She spies the '#1 AUSPISTICE' mug in the sink, still stained with coffee and unwashed since her last visit.

"I think I've been cooped up a little to long really. Besides, why would I pass up the opportunity to see you in action?"

Jade grins. "And an opportunity to meet my other friends!"

Rose's face falls slightly before she picks her smile back up. "Of course. I'm sure it will be great."

Jade doesn't really know what to make of Rose's expression, so she just pours her milk and sits down. She's tired too, but she doesn't want to show it.

"Well hurry up then! We've gotta get moving while the day is still young!"

-

Jade picked up a lot of hobbies after she and Rose left school. It's her default setting, a habit left over from lonely days on the island, to put way too much on her plate and fill the otherwise empty hours. The whole band thing is an exercise in staying social - she's afraid she won't interact with more than three people if she doesn't force herself. They aren't very good, honestly, every bit a mediocre garage band of amateurish teenagers, but she still enjoys herself. She hadn't used her bass much when she was at school, and certainly not during the three years beforehand, so she relishes the chance to play again.

Rose, for her part, seems to relish watching her - the whole time she was playing, she found Rose's eyes glued to her. Mostly to her fingers, which makes sense for the ever analytical Rose, but surprisingly often to her focused face, her shifting heels, swinging hair. Jade tries not to read too much into it.

They're having a break, now, and Jade has just perched herself on Rose's lap when one of the other girls bounds over. Her sleeves slip over her fingers, and she wears a near-perpetual smile on her naturally downturned lips. Jade is pretty fond of her.

"Hey Am! That one was pretty good huh?"

"Eh, I think it was better, but some of my parts were still frightful! We'll figure it all out though, I'm certain." Her smile doesn't let up as she speaks, even when rolling her eyes at her own self deprecation. She turns quickly to Rose, offering a bony hand.

"Dreadfully sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier! My name's Amara. You're Rose, right?"

Rose plasters on her own smile as she reaches for the other girl's hand. "I am. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"The pleasure's all mine lovely! I assume Jade would only have the best taste in friends, although she doesn't bring them round very often. So all in all I'm glad to finally meet you!"

Jade watches Rose's face carefully, tracking her gaze to Amara's prominent cheekbones, dusted with freckles like a swirling galaxy. Something twists in her gut.

Rose smiles warmly. "You're too kind. I thought your singing was wonderful, if my humble opinion factors in at all."

Amara looks down with an embarrassed grin, and Jade gently elbows her side, cooing "I told you so!".

"Gosh Jade, I think you should bring friends by more often. A few audience members as charming as this will do wonders for my ego! Anyway, we were going to run through the last one again, if you don't mind."

Jade and Rose say, just a tick off unison, that they don't mind at all.

"Great! It's been lovely meeting you, Rose."

When they go over the last half of the set, tracing and retracing each line until it's right, Jade can't help but notice Rose's gaze is being split between the two of them.

-

"Your friend was quite charming, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, she's the sweetest thing! I was hoping you two would get along."

"Well rest assured then. Jade, may I ask you something?"

Jade sees Rose's fingers running back and forth over the steering wheel, tripping over themselves in the nervous gesture. She has a feeling she knows the question, but prays for the first time that she's misreading the signs.

"Go ahead."

"Does Amara - do you think she seems, special in some way?"

Rose's voice betrays her worry, and Jade's heart clenches in perfect time with her fist against the glovebox. She grits her teeth.

"No, Rose, I don't."

"Jade, please-" Jade cuts her off with a raised eyebrow and as steely a look as she can manage. Rose turns her eyes sheepishly back to the road before continuing. "Jade, you can't tell me you've never thought about it. Not with everything that's happened."

Jade doesn't answer as they arrive on her street. Rose pulls the car into park abruptly, and they both lurch forward. She turns to Jade and there's barely-masked frustration there, but it's tandem with hurt, rooted deeper than this one conversation.

"Do you honestly believe that there's no meaning here? That you just so happened to meet her? A girl just like-"

"Rose," she nearly whispers it, but it silences the other girl anyway, "Please don't."

Rose exhales through her teeth and mutters a reply, sinking into her seat. "Fine."

Jade opens the door and clambers out. "I'll see you later, okay. Don't forget to call me."

Rose nods in affirmative and Jade starts towards her front door, a siren call of chores and books and distraction. The sun beats down on her, and Rose calls softly through the cracked side window.

"You said it wasn't my fault, you know. The last time."

Jade turns back to her and tries to smile. Tries to make it reassuring, like she's practised.

"Yeah," she calls back, "I remember."

She walks the last few feet through her front garden without glancing back, and hears Rose drive away before she makes it to the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did u think jade was kidding about being in a band? she was not, bc girl bands are my weakness. and also plot reasons.

**Author's Note:**

> this is a very short chapter but i wanted to post something bc im reckless jaderose trash (so if theres something weird let me know! or just comment anyway comments would be cool cause im not sure if this is worth finishing :/)


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